Naruto
by Dan Rokudaime
Summary: Naruto's life before and inbetween the story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
"You know they're starting to say you could get health problems from eating to much ramen, Naruto," said the ramen bar tender as he was drying out another clean bowl, "They say you could become pale and have skin conditions and things like that." Naruto slowly slurped up the rest of his bite, looking solemnly at his almost empty bowl. "Is that so? Well, it's not like things could get much worse for me." Naruto set his chopsticks aside gently, picked up his bowl, and chugged down the broth and whatever was still floating in it. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small frog-shaped coin purse that was almost empty. "How much do I owe you?" He asked, while shifting through the coins. The bar tender had noticed that Naruto had been running short on cash lately. It was already Friday and Naruto had only been to Ichiraku for ramen twice. Each time he had only bought one bowl and then went along his lonely way. The bar keep smiled as he said, "Don't worry about it today, I'll put it on your tab." This got a grin out of Naruto. It was the closest he had come to smiling all week. "Arigatou," Naruto replied. He then raised himself off the barstool, put his wallet back into his back pocket, and walked off for the door.  
  
His hands were shoved into his pockets and his head was slumped as he walked through the back alley streets of Konoha to get to his "home" without incident. He didn't know why, but everyone in town seemed to hate him for no apparent reason. It bothered him to walk through the open roads and having all of their cold eyes staring at him. Even though he was probably safe in the alleys, he clutched the kunai in his pocket tightly, just in case they came for him again. It had already been a month since that gang had attacked him, but he wasn't taking any chances. He had learned one very important rule: trust only yourself. He heard a couple of rustles, but it was usually either the wind or a small animal. He thought he heard human voices a few times. He wrote if off in his mind as overactive imagination, but he still kept his guard up.  
  
About twenty minutes later he made it to the small apartment complex in which he lived. It was getting late and Naruto hadn't even had time to practice his jutsus yet. The final exam at the ninja academy was in less than a week, and Naruto still hadn't mastered Bushin no Jutsu. He was walking from block to block worrying about what he was going to do for the exam. He didn't know what he was going to do if he failed.  
  
He got to his door and noticed it was already opened so he hid against the wall and cautiously opened the door. He sneaked inside and looked around at mess that was his apartment. He looked down the short hallway towards his room. Through the opening of his door he could see several shadows. He pulled the kunai from his pocket and drew an extra one for use in his other hand. He thought to himself, "What is with these people? Why can't I just be left alone?" He rushed to the door and looked around to see who it was. It was the same gangsters that had beaten him a month ago. Naruto grinned as he thought of a perfect way to beat them. They were all guys and Naruto had recently designed a new move. He got ready to rush in there and take them all out at once.  
  
He busted through the door and rolled across the ground. Naruto then jumped up onto his feet and put his hands in the standard chakra channeling position, and yelled, "HENGE! SEXY NO JUTSU!" And with that he changed into a gorgeous, naked blonde female with ponytails and Naruto's six little face marks. Playing the part he then winked and blew a kiss at the intruders. They all ended up spewing blood out of their noses and flying out the open window. "That should show them," said Naruto with confidence. He then shut the window, locked, and shut and locked all of the other doors and windows. He was making sure they wouldn't get back in, though he didn't know how exactly they got in in the first place. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
It took him several hours to clean up and it was dawn by the time he finished practicing his jutsus. He would have to get to the academy within the hour. "Kuso," Naruto swore, "If it wasn't for those damn gangsters I'd have had plenty of time to sleep. Why the hell does everyone in this damn town hate me so much?" He got off his mat and grabbed his back pack. On his way out the door he made sure he locked it good and tight. Naruto sighed as he walked down the stairs to the street below. He then started his daily trek from the projects of Konoha to the ninja academy. He decided to stop by a corner store to grab a quart of milk to drink on the way.  
  
He went to the back and grabbed a quart out of one of the refrigerator units. As he walked up to the counter to pay, an adult shoved him aside and set his stuff on the counter. Naruto tripped and hit his head on one of the open top coolers of beer. It knocked him a little dizzy but he would be ok. This wasn't the first time it had happened to the little fox-boy. He picked himself up of the ground, his backside wet from the pool of water forming under the cooler. As he slowly stood up, he slipped on that same puddle, but caught himself by grabbing one of the near by racks. After the man who had pushed his way in front of him finished paying, Naruto place his milk on the counter along with seven quarters to pay with. As he handed Naruto back the milk he asked, "You didn't put anything in your pockets that you aren't planning to pay for, did you?" Naruto, with his head slumped as usual, shook his head and took the milk. "Can i have my change and please?" he asked politely. Coldly, the clerk dropped the quarters into the open register and asked in return, "What change?" Naruto was almost out of the door when the clerk yelled at him, "And don't you be tearing down my counters either you little punk. Now get the hell out of here."  
  
As Naruto walked down the alley, he opened up the bottle of milk and drunk it down. He was probably running late already, but he could never be sure because he didn't have enough money for a watch. To make up for the lost time at the store, Naruto decided that it would be quicker just to go out in the streets and jog to school. Maybe if he was moving fast enough he wouldn't have time to notice everyone's cold looks. He started out in a fast walk, but slowly moved up into a jog and then to an all out run as he noticed the "go to hell" looks more and more. He jogged his way through crowds and around carts and over animals. It seemed as though nobody was willing to be nice enough to him to at least move just a little bit for him.  
  
As he rushed by Ichiraku, the bartender called out to him to come here. He walked in slightly and asked, "What is it?" The bartender looked at him slightly confused and said, "Where are you of to in such a hurry on a Saturday?" Naruto was embarrassed that he had been so worried about getting to school the he actually forgot that he had the day off. He asked the bartender, "Are you sure it's Saturday?" The barkeep pointed to the chalkboard with the daily special on it and said, "The board don't lie. It's Saturday and today's special is miso ramen." Naruto smiled a bit and said, "Have you got any more room on my tab for a few more bowls?" The barkeep smiled kindly and told him, "We always do." With that Naruto hopped up into his usual seat and ordered a bowl of the special. Maybe if his belly was full things wouldn't look so bad anymore. After all, he still had almost a week to master Bushin no Jutsu and two days to completely devote to it. 


End file.
